If we lived in a perfect world....

Okay everyone. Here's a question that has been recently thrown out at me...if you could do one thing to contribute towards ending poverty, what would it be? This could be policy making, welfare reform, establishing community action programs, etc. So tell, me what are your ideas? :)

Make ALL business share profits with their employees.

You all know, that the Rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. Guess who owns the businesses - the RICH people!

I make a good buck myself, but I see all sorts of people who don't. They work for big corporations who should pay their employees more.

Originally posted by DantesInferno
Okay everyone. Here's a question that has been recently thrown out at me...if you could do one thing to contribute towards ending poverty, what would it be? This could be policy making, welfare reform, establishing community action programs, etc. So tell, me what are your ideas? :)

Change the way people are educated. I think that if you have some brain power (taught or self taught) you'll do fine.

Making getting an education easier to get. For ALL people, not just the ones who dont have it already.

I see so many people (including myslef) struggle though school, even though they're smart people, but becuase of bad teachers or whatnot, they end up being poor.

Originally posted by MercCougarXR7
Make ALL business share profits with their employees.
Never thought of that. Damned good idea! I'm not saying its feasible or likely, but it's good. Leveling the playing field in that respect would be awesome.

For my own spin, I like welfare reform personally. I am not even sure if this will contribute towards ending poverty, at least not directly, but people need to have a help themselves attitude. The mentality that the government is this mystical deity that will take care of them needs to go (one of the few bad long term effects of FDR's administration). In the long run, I think this will help bring an end to poverty.

Some the communism ideas would work, that is if we lived in a perfect world. Everybody has a job and no matter what you do for work you make the same amount as anybody else, this only includes main income, stocks, bonds and other investment ideas are seperate and untaxed. That would work. . . . . . . in a perfect world.

Good old Communism: so beautiful in theory, so horrible in practice. Like many, I was swept up by the enchanting ideals of the system when I read Marx’s Communist Manifesto in high school. We now know that it simply does not work.

My perfect world:

No job interviews, you just get the job.
Loans are always granted no matter what your history is like.
Weed is legal.:D
Less regulations as it pertains to automobiles.(Modding, Importation, etc)
I would not get taxed at all. I get all my money.


I have more, but not readily available. As I remember, I will attach them.:D

No taxes, huh? I must be one of the few Americans who is happy to give the government so much of my money. Seriously – I am not exaggerating or joking in the least. When I think about how much my money helps to fund: building and maintaining roads, military security, police presence, funding for the arts… you get the idea, as the list goes on and on. I shudder to think what I would waste my entire salary on if the government wasn’t providing all these things and watching my back.

Originally posted by JD@af
No taxes, huh? I must be one of the few Americans who is happy to give the government so much of my money. Seriously – I am not exaggerating or joking in the least. When I think about how much my money helps to fund: building and maintaining roads, military security, police presence, funding for the arts… you get the idea, as the list goes on and on. I shudder to think what I would waste my entire salary on if the government wasn’t providing all these things and watching my back.


My Perfect world:

The government is self reliant!:D

Happy?:finger: :D :D :D

Originally posted by DVSNCYNIKL

My Perfect world:

The government is self reliant!:D

Happy?:finger: :D :D :D
Geeezz.. okay, I think I get the point. :flipa:

In light of that (a self-sufficient government), then yes, I too would like to see an end to taxation.

Originally posted by JD@af

Geeezz.. okay, I think I get the point. :flipa:

In light of that (a self-sufficient government), then yes, I too would like to see an end to taxation.


:D :D :D :D :D :D

Originally posted by JD@af
Good old Communism: so beautiful in theory, so horrible in practice. Like many, I was swept up by the enchanting ideals of the system when I read Marx’s Communist Manifesto in high school. We now know that it simply does not work.

Exactly, if only it was a perfect world. But where would the challenge in that be?

Okay, so we've got education reform, more access to jobs, adjustment of wage gap, Communism..interesting...:rolleyes: etc. What do you guys think about the statement that poverty is passed down through the generations? One generation living in poverty begets another...Interesting concept I think.

Originally posted by MercCougarXR7
Make ALL business share profits with their employees.

You all know, that the Rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. Guess who owns the businesses - the RICH people!


that wouldn't really work, there would be no motivation to start a business or be really succesful if you just get paid the same as everyone else... ahem communism is not good merc :)

and i don't really think the rich are gettin richer, poor are gettin poorer. like a 100 years ago there was only Upper class and Lower class... now we blurred that line, and the majority of people are middle class, not poor but not really rich
i think, that's gettin better, just IMO

Originally posted by DantesInferno
Okay, so we've got education reform, more access to jobs, adjustment of wage gap, Communism..interesting...:rolleyes: etc. What do you guys think about the statement that poverty is passed down through the generations? One generation living in poverty begets another...Interesting concept I think.

I agree 100%. It's like a vicious cycle. Mom and dad are poor, and your likelihood of being poor as well is greatly increased. My god mother told me that the trick to finding somebody you want to marry is hanging around their parents and see if you like the way they live. If you do, you're all set, because that's who you're destined to be in 30 years. If you don't like the parents, run like the wind!! But seriously, children usually are made from the same mold as their parents. It takes a particularly strong and willful individual to live significantly outside the shadow of their parents.

That's not neccesarily true.... look at that one girl that was homeless and she got into Harvard recently :)

what's her name?

Most of the really rich guys i know, are dumbasses that are probably goin to be like construction workers or something (including me, lol :D ) cause they always get everything, they don't know how life is without all the money
While the people that are more middle class, seem to work alot harder so they make more money then their parents

actually i got a trust fund and my dad's business that i can learn... so i'm safe :D :D

Originally posted by gang$tarr

actually i got a trust fund and my dad's business that i can learn... so i'm safe :D :D

Actually, studies have shown that you're not safe. In fact more and more people are slipping out of their income bracket, downward. Moving upward in the class system is becoming increasingly difficult. And as far as the income brackets being blurred between classes, that's far from the truth. 5% of the population holds 20% of all the wealth, and it breaks down from there. Staying within the class system you were born into is one thing, slipping downward out of it is another, but rising to a higher class is very unlikely. It makes a person wonder what they're working for.

Those rags to riches stories are just that...stories. These days, the largest struggle lies in staying on the metaphorical treadmill you were born on.

Just my thoughts...

I, sadly, agree. I've been realizing in the last couple years since joining the working world that it's going to be very difficult to achieve the same level of financial success that my parents enjoy. I think about where my dad was already at my age in relation to where I am. I’m worlds behind him. I know it is foolish to look at the picture like this, as success (as we’ve all been taught from a young age) is not to be measured by the size of your paycheck, but rather by the satisfaction you gather from work and life in general on a daily basis. To that end, I consider myself successful. But financially, I’m getting by, and I make more than the average American, but I have a tough act to follow, and therefore a long way to fall. Keeping up with mom and dad is no small task it seems.

I also notice that part of their financial independence is based on the money that their parents were frugal and wise enough to put aside. Having them do the same is going to be a saving grace for my family’s well-being some day. I’d better start changing my ways in order to keep the cycle going. I think it’s today’s culture that success and fame is thrown into the spotlight so frequently that we all covet it. It’s like striving to be “something” is engrained into contemporary American well-being. To me, this is the curse of capitalism. I hate that part of it. Sure, I love material things, like so many of us, but it gets to the point that what’s really important is blurred and loses its distinction. Days like September 11th help to restore that focus.

Originally posted by DantesInferno


Actually, studies have shown that you're not safe. In fact more and more people are slipping out of their income bracket, downward. Moving upward in the class system is becoming increasingly difficult. And as far as the income brackets being blurred between classes, that's far from the truth. 5% of the population holds 20% of all the wealth, and it breaks down from there. Staying within the class system you were born into is one thing, slipping downward out of it is another, but rising to a higher class is very unlikely. It makes a person wonder what they're working for.

Those rags to riches stories are just that...stories. These days, the largest struggle lies in staying on the metaphorical treadmill you were born on.

Just my thoughts...

I don't really agree with you, I think a middle class person which is the majority of people works harder to succeed than a person that already gets born into money. So what if 5% of the population owns 20% of wealth, that doesn't really mean anything, there are always those carreers that pay HUGE, that's what people work for. I bet Bill Gates and a couple other richest people in the world account for like atleast 5% of the wealth. If the majority of the population is middle class i think that pretty much blurs the line between rich and poor there is a small number of rich people and a small number of poor people, blurred line, right there.
That girl that was homeless that got into harvard isn't a story, it's the truth, i read it somewhere. Her name is Elizabeth Murray. Here's a link to the website:

http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_991217_homelessscholarship_feature.html

If she can go from the very bottem of society to the best college in the world, and most likely can get a huge paying job (since she went to Harvard) than anybody can

Also I am pretty safe, cause i bet there's enough in my trust fund to live out most of my life. Plus if I take over my dad's business, not too much could go terribly wrong and screw me.

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Originally posted by MercCougarXR7
Make ALL business share profits with their employees.

You all know, that the Rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. Guess who owns the businesses - the RICH people!

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that wouldn't really work, there would be no motivation to start a business or be really succesful if you just get paid the same as everyone else... ahem communism is not good merc

and i don't really think the rich are gettin richer, poor are gettin poorer. like a 100 years ago there was only Upper class and Lower class... now we blurred that line, and the majority of people are middle class, not poor but not really rich
i think, that's gettin better, just IMO

Well, I never said that they had to be equal shares. I meant more as a profit sharing kind of idea. For example, McDonalds would still get to pay their employees they minimum wage, but a portion of all the day's profits (not gross) would get split between all the employees who worked that day.

I KNOW that if I got a share of the profit where I worked (on top of my already high wage/hour, I'd REALLY work my ass off to get that bonus :).